JP6012969B2 - Dial type switch - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a dial type switch.

  Conventional dial-type switches used for control panels of onboard air conditioners and audio equipment, etc., can be operated with a rotary knob even at night (for example, adjusting the temperature and air volume of an air conditioner, audio volume and output, etc. A light emitting display unit having a display surface capable of emitting light is provided on the rotary knob so that it is possible to determine which is the adjustment of the direction or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the internal structure of this type of dial switch, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing an essential part of the dial switch of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the dial switch 200 is attached to the instrument panel 300 of the vehicle, and the front end opening is closed by a light emitting display unit 201 made of a transparent plate-like member (for example, a clear material) having a substantially circular shape. A substantially cylindrical housing portion 202, a base portion 203 that covers the front end portion 202 a on the light emitting display portion 201 side of the housing portion 202 and is interposed between the light emitting display portion 201, and the housing portion 202. A light source 204 disposed inside, an annular rotation knob 205 rotatably provided on the outer peripheral side of the light emitting display portion 201, and a tip opening (rotation knob opening 205a) of the rotation knob 205. ), And a ring portion 206 that is an annular decorative member. At this time, the ring part 206 improves appearance (designability) by plating the outer surface.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6 in which the main part A indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 5 is enlarged, a claw portion 202 b is projected outward from the front end portion 202 a of the housing portion 202, and the base portion 203 By engaging with a notch 203b provided on the inner periphery, the housing 202 and the base 203 are fixed in a positioned state. In addition, the base 203 is formed with a rib 203a that is bent toward the inner peripheral side at the front end on the light emitting display 201 side. The rib 203a extends to the inner peripheral side so as to cover the front end portion of the housing portion 202 on the front end portion 202a side. The ribs 203 a are brought into contact with the back surface 201 a of the light emitting display unit 201 through the adhesive part 207 made of double-sided tape or the like, so that the light emitting display unit 201 is fixed to the base unit 203.

  With this configuration, in the dial switch 200, the light emitted from the light source 204 passes through the inner peripheral side of the housing portion 202 and enters the back surface 201 a of the light emitting display portion 201, and then the front surface ( That is, the light emitting display unit 201 is transmitted through the display surface 201b). Thus, the display content printed on the light emitting display unit 201 (for example, the back surface 201a) can be displayed in a state where the light is displayed on the display surface 201b.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-202973

  However, in the structure of the conventional dial switch 200 described above, since the light emitting display unit 201 must transmit the light emitted from the light source 204, it is formed using a transparent material (clear material). The light leaking from the outer periphery of the light-emitting display unit 201 is reflected by the ring part 206 that has been plated, so that the appearance is impaired.

  In addition, since the light emitting display portion 201 is fixed to the base portion 203 through an adhesive portion 207 such as a double-sided tape, there is a risk that problems such as cost increase due to an increase in the number of parts and peeling due to aging deterioration may occur. There was also concern.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can prevent the appearance from being impaired, and also avoid the occurrence of problems due to aging deterioration while reducing the number of parts and reducing the cost. An object of the present invention is to provide a dial switch that can be used.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 includes a light source, a disk-shaped light emitting display unit that emits light from the light source, and an outer peripheral side of the light emitting display unit. A cylindrical rotary knob having a decorative portion at the front end, and arranged between the rotary knob and the light emitting display unit, covering the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display unit and emitting from the outer peripheral surface A cylindrical base portion that holds the light emitting display unit so as to shield light from the light source, and an inner peripheral side of the rotary knob, and in a front-rear direction on a central axis of the rotary knob includes a long cylindrical housing portion, said base portion and said light emitting display part is interposed between the housing portion, a predetermined switch operation by the central axis of the rotating operation of the rotating knob In the dial type switch that performs
The outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion is provided with a first convex portion projecting outward,
On the outer peripheral surface of the front end portion of the housing portion, a second convex portion projecting outward is projected,
On the inner circumference of the base portion, a cutout portion corresponding to the first convex portion of the light emitting display portion and the second convex portion of the housing portion is provided on the same line in the front-rear direction of the central axis. It is characterized by.

The invention according to claim 2 is the dial switch according to claim 1 ,
The housing portion has a front end abutted against a back surface side opposite to the display surface of the light emitting display portion located on an inner peripheral side of the rotation knob,
The base portion is formed such that at least the inner peripheral surface facing the light emitting display portion on the front end side is in a shape along the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion,
The light emitting display portion is interposed between a front end portion of the housing portion and an inner peripheral surface of the base portion.

The invention according to claim 3 is the dial switch according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The base portion is characterized in that at least an inner peripheral surface facing the light emitting display portion is subjected to a light shielding process with a material that does not transmit light.

The invention according to claim 4 is the dial switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
It is mounted on a vehicle.

According to the present invention, since the base portion is disposed between the rotation knob and the light emitting display portion, and covers the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion, the light from the light source emitted from the outer peripheral surface is shielded. It is possible to prevent the light emitted from the light source from leaking from the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display part and reflecting it to the decoration part, and it is possible to prevent the appearance from being deteriorated.
In addition, since the base portion is disposed between the rotating knob and the light emitting display portion and covers the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion, it is bent toward the inner peripheral side at the front end portion that becomes the light emitting display portion side as in the past. The number of parts can be reduced by forming the ribs and eliminating the fixing of the light emitting display part to the base part by interposing an adhesive part (for example, double-sided tape) between the rib and the back surface of the light emitting display part. It is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the cost, and it is possible to prevent the base portion from directly holding the light emitting display portion, thereby preventing the occurrence of problems such as peeling due to aging.
Thus, it is possible to provide a dial switch that can prevent the appearance of the appearance from being impaired and reduce the number of parts and reduce costs while avoiding problems due to aging.

It is a front view which shows the vehicle-mounted state of the dial type switch which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the principal part of a dial type switch. It is sectional drawing which shows the AA cross section in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which expands and shows the principal part in FIG. It is side sectional drawing which shows the conventional dial type switch. It is an expanded sectional view which expands and shows the principal part in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the dial switch 1 according to the present embodiment in a vehicle-mounted state, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the dial switch 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main part in FIG. 3 in an enlarged manner.
The dial switch 1 is, for example, a switch unit that is mounted on a vehicle and performs a predetermined switch operation. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the instrument panel 100 of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “instrument panel 100”). And a panel 3 as a light emitting display portion made of a substantially circular transmissive plate member (for example, a clear material), and a front end opening is closed by the panel 3. A substantially cylindrical housing portion 4, a base portion 5 that covers the outer peripheral surface 42 of the front end portion 4 a on the panel 3 side of the housing portion 4 and the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3; An LED 6 (Light Emitting Diode) as a light source disposed; a ring portion 7 that is an annular decorative portion engaged with a rotation knob opening 21 that is a tip opening of the rotation knob 2; Be equipped To have.

  Specifically, the rotation knob 2 is configured to be rotatable around a central axis Ax along the front-rear direction. The front end 2 a in the front-rear direction on the central axis Ax is substantially the entire circumference of the front end 2 a. There is provided a rotating knob opening 21 opened over the entire area. Further, the rear end side of the rotary knob 2 is formed to have a predetermined length in the front-rear direction, and the substantially rear half portion is inserted into the instrument panel 100 over a predetermined length.

  The panel 3 is disposed so as to close the rotation knob opening 21 of the rotation knob 2 on the back surface 3b side opposite to the display surface 3a. The display content formed by printing or the like on 3b can be displayed through the display surface 3a. At this time, the display content displayed on the display surface 3a can be printed by forming the back surface 3b side of the panel 3 substantially flat. Furthermore, the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 is provided with a plurality of (for example, four) first protrusions 3c protruding outward at predetermined intervals, and a notch portion of the base portion 5 described later. By being engaged with 5b, it is fixed while being positioned with respect to the base portion 5. In the case of this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 is formed with a tapered surface that is inclined in the outer diameter direction from the display surface 3a toward the back surface 3b.

  The housing portion 4 is a cylindrical member that is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the rotation knob 2 on the concentric circle of the rotation knob 2 and is long in the front-rear direction in the direction of the central axis Ax. Then, an opening 41 as a tip opening that opens over substantially the entire circumference of the peripheral end on the back surface 3 b side of the panel 3 located on the inner peripheral side of the rotary knob 2 is formed on the central axis Ax of the rotary knob 2. It is on the front end 4a side in the front-rear direction. Further, the outer peripheral surface 42 of the front end portion 4a of the housing portion 4 is provided with a plurality of second convex portions 4b projecting outward at a predetermined interval (in this case, four locations), which will be described later. By being engaged with the notch portion 5 b of the base portion 5, the base portion 5 is fixed in a state of being positioned with respect to the base portion 5 integrally.

  The rear end portion of the housing portion 4 is slidably held in the direction of the central axis Ax via a holding member 9 and a sliding portion 10 on a substrate 8 erected so as to be orthogonal to the central axis Ax. . The rear surface of the substrate 8 is covered with a cover 11, and is fixed to the instrument panel 100 through a case 12 attached to the outer periphery of the cover 11. On the substrate 8, an LED 6 whose optical axis is aligned with the central axis Ax is mounted on the central axis Ax so as to irradiate light forward. An encoder unit 13 is mounted on the substrate 8 on the outer peripheral side of the housing portion 4. The encoder unit 13 has a sliding portion (not shown) that can rotate about the central axis Ax, and the sliding portion is connected to the rear end portion of the rotating knob 2, The rotation position (rotation angle) of the rotation knob 2 can be detected. Based on the rotation angle detected by the encoder unit 13, a predetermined switch operation is performed through a control mechanism (not shown).

  In the dial switch 1, the operation result (for example, in the case of adjusting the temperature of an air conditioner, the set temperature after the adjustment) by the turning operation of the turning knob 2 around the central axis Ax is provided on a control panel (not shown). Displayed on the display device. Since the housing 4 is slidably held in the direction of the central axis Ax via the sliding portion 10 and the holding member 9 on the inner peripheral side of the encoder unit 13 mounted on the substrate 8, the front end portion When the panel 3 in contact with the 4a is pressed, the panel 3 slides in the direction of the central axis Ax, and a predetermined switch operation (for example, temperature adjustment of a car air conditioner, Other switch operations (for example, automatic temperature setting of a car air conditioner, mute setting for making the volume of a car audio silence) different from the audio volume adjustment, etc. are performed.

  As shown in FIG. 4 in which the main portion B indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3 is enlarged, the base portion 5 includes the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 and the front end of the housing portion 4 along the central axis Ax of the rotating knob 2. As the front end 5a side in the front-rear direction of the central axis Ax of the rotary knob 2 is along the taper surface of the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3, it is covered with the outer peripheral surface 42 of the portion 4a. It is formed of a tapered surface that is inclined toward the outer diameter direction. For this reason, the base part 5 comes to sandwich the panel 3 with the outer peripheral side of the panel 3 interposed between the front end part 5a formed of a tapered surface and the front end part 4a of the housing part 4. ing.

  Further, the base portion 5 has a front end opening 51 that opens over substantially the entire outer periphery of the panel 3 located on the inner peripheral side of the rotary knob 2 on the front end portion 5 a side. The display surface 3a of the panel 3 is exposed from the rotation knob opening 21 via the. In addition, at least the inner peripheral surface 52 that faces the panel 3 is light-shielded by a material that does not transmit light, and the light from the LED 6 that leaks from the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 is directed to the ring unit 7 side. The light can be shielded so as not to be emitted.

  Further, on the inner periphery of the base portion 5, slit-like notches 5b extending in the front-rear direction of the central axis Ax are provided at a plurality of locations (for example, four locations) at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. The panel 3 and the housing part 4 can be positioned with respect to the base part 5 by engaging with the first convex part 3 c and the second convex part 4 b of the housing part 4. At this time, since the first convex portion 3c of the panel 3 is interposed between the notch portion 5b of the base portion 5 and the second convex portion 4b of the housing portion 4, the base portion 5 and the housing also in this portion. The panel 3 can be held between the unit 4 and the unit 4. Therefore, by engaging the notch 5b of the base 5 with the first convex 3c of the panel 3 and the second convex 4b of the housing 4, the gap between the base 5 and the housing 4 is achieved. In other words, it can be said that the sandwiched panel 3 can be positioned.

  The ring portion 7 is substantially entirely plated, and is disposed on the outer periphery of the base portion 5 on the concentric circle of the rotation knob 2, and a hole portion 7 a penetrating the outer periphery on the rear end side is provided on the rotation knob 2. It is fixed to the rotating knob opening 21 of the rotating knob 2 by being engaged with the protruding portion 2b protruding from the inner periphery of the front end portion 2a, thereby improving the appearance of the dial type switch 1. Yes.

  In the dial switch 1 having such a configuration, the light emitted from the LED 6 passes through the inner peripheral side of the housing part 4 and enters the back surface 3b of the panel 3, and then the front surface of the panel 3 (that is, the display surface). The light passes through the panel 3 so as to be emitted from 3a). Thus, the display content printed on the back surface 3b of the panel 3 can be displayed in a state where the display surface 3a emits light.

  When the panel 3 is pressed, other switch operations (for example, temperature adjustment of the car air conditioner, volume adjustment of the car audio, etc.) by the turning operation of the turning knob 2 are different ( For example, an automatic temperature setting for a car air conditioner or a mute setting for muting the volume of the car audio may be performed.

  In particular, in the dial type switch 1 of the present embodiment, unlike the conventional dial type switch 200 shown in FIG. 6, the base portion 203 is bent toward the inner peripheral side at the front end portion on the light emitting display portion 201 side. The rib 203a is not provided. That is, in the case of the dial switch 1 of the present embodiment, the base portion 5 covers the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 and the outer peripheral surface 42 at the front end portion 4a of the housing portion 4 along the central axis Ax of the rotary knob 2. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface 52 facing the panel 3 can shield the LED 6 light leaking from the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 so as not to be emitted to the ring portion 7 side. It is possible to avoid the reflected light from being reflected on the ring portion 7 in advance.

  Further, in the dial type switch 1 of the present embodiment, unlike the conventional dial type switch 200 shown in FIG. 6, the base portion 203 has a double-sided tape or the like between the rib 203 a and the back surface 201 a of the light emitting display portion 201. The light emitting display portion 201 is not fixed to the base portion 203 through the adhesive portion 207. That is, in the case of the dial switch 1 of the present embodiment, the base portion 5 exposes the display surface 3 a of the panel 3 from the turning knob opening 21 through the tip opening 51, and the central axis of the turning knob 2. A front end portion 5a formed of a tapered surface of the base portion 5 and a front end of the housing portion 4 are provided so as to cover the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 and the outer peripheral surface 42 of the front end portion 4a of the housing portion 4 along Ax. Since the panel 3 is sandwiched between the part 4a and the outer peripheral side of the panel 3, the adhesive part 207 (see FIG. 6) is eliminated, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. In addition, by directly sandwiching the panel 3 between the base portion 5 and the housing portion 4, it is possible to avoid occurrence of problems such as peeling due to deterioration over time.

As described above, according to the dial type switch 1 of the present embodiment, the LED 6, the disk-shaped panel 3 on which the display surface 3 a emits light by the light emitted from the LED 6, and the outer peripheral side of the panel 3 are disposed, and the front end portion 2a includes a cylindrical rotation knob 2 having a ring portion 7 and a cylindrical base portion 5 for holding the panel 3, and a predetermined switch operation by a rotation operation about the central axis Ax of the rotation knob 2. In the dial switch 1 that performs the above, the base portion 5 is disposed between the rotary knob 2 and the panel 3, covers the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3, and emits light from the LED 6 emitted from the outer peripheral surface 31. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the light emitted from the LED 6 from leaking from the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 and reflecting to the ring portion 7 and to prevent the appearance from being deteriorated.
Moreover, since the base part 5 is arrange | positioned between the rotation knob 2 and the panel 3, and covers the outer peripheral surface 31 of the said panel 3, since the rib 203a and the adhesive part 207 (refer FIG. 6) which existed conventionally can be excluded, The cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts, and it is possible to avoid the occurrence of problems such as peeling due to aging due to the base portion 5 holding the panel 3 directly.
Thus, it is possible to provide the dial switch 1 that can prevent the appearance of the appearance from being impaired and reduce the number of parts and reduce costs while avoiding problems due to aging.

  Further, according to the dial-type switch 1, it is provided on the inner peripheral side of the rotary knob 2 and includes a cylindrical housing part 4 that is long in the front-rear direction about the central axis Ax, and includes a base part 5, a housing part 4, Therefore, the panel 3 can be held between the base portion 5 and the housing portion 4.

  Further, according to the dial type switch 1, the housing portion 4 has the front end portion 4a in contact with the back surface 3b side opposite to the display surface 3a of the panel 3 located on the inner peripheral side of the rotating knob 2, and the base portion. 5, at least an inner peripheral surface 52 facing the panel 3 on the front end 5a side is formed in a shape along the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3, and the front end 4a of the housing part 4 and the inner periphery of the base part 5 are formed. Since the panel 3 is interposed between the surface 52 and the front end portion 4a of the housing portion 4 and the inner peripheral surface 52 of the base portion 5, the panel 3 can be sandwiched, and a conventional rib is formed. Since the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced by the necessity of providing an adhesive portion or an adhesive portion, the panel 3 is directly sandwiched between the front end portion 4a of the housing portion 4 and the inner peripheral surface 52 of the base portion 5. Therefore, do not peel off due to aging That the failure of the results can be avoided in advance.

  Moreover, according to the dial type switch 1, since the base part 5 is light-shielded by the material which does not permeate | transmit light at least the inner peripheral surface 52 which opposes the panel 3, from LED6 leaking from the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 The light can be reliably shielded so as not to be emitted to the ring portion 7 side.

  Further, according to the dial type switch 1, the first convex portion 3 c protruding outward is provided on the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3, and the outer peripheral surface 42 at the front end portion 4 a of the housing portion 4 is provided on the outer peripheral surface 42. A second convex portion 4 b that protrudes in the direction is projected, and corresponds to the first convex portion 3 c of the panel 3 and the second convex portion 4 b of the housing portion 4 on the inner periphery of the base portion 5. Since the notch portion 5b is provided on the same line in the front-rear direction of the central axis Ax, when the base portion 5 is covered on the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 and the outer peripheral surface 42 of the housing portion 4, the first and second By engaging the protrusions 3c and 4b with the notch 5b, the panel 3 and the housing part 4 are positioned relative to the base part 5, in other words, the panel 3 held between the base part 5 and the housing part 4 is positioned. It is possible.

  It should be noted that the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the above-described embodiment, and of course can be changed or improved as appropriate.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the dial switch 1 of the present invention is applied to a switch unit that is mounted on a vehicle and performs a predetermined switch operation is described. Other than the above, if a cylindrical rotary knob having a light emitting display portion whose display surface emits light by irradiated light is provided and a predetermined switch operation is performed by a rotary operation around the central axis of the rotary knob. It can be widely applied to various switch units.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which at least the inner peripheral surface 52 facing the panel 3 is shielded with a material that does not transmit light in the base portion 5, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the base portion 5 itself may be formed using a light shielding material. In short, as long as the light emitted from the LED 6 can be shielded so as not to be emitted from the outer peripheral surface 31 of the panel 3 to the ring part 7 side, various other light shielding processes can be used as the light shielding process in the base part 5. Can be widely applied.

1 Dial switch 2 Rotating knob 2a Front end 3 Panel (light emitting display)
3a Display surface 3b Back surface 3c First convex part 4 Housing part 4a Front end part 4b Second convex part 5 Base part 5a Front end part 5b Notch part 6 LED (light source)
7 Ring part 7a Hole part 21 Knob opening part 31 Outer peripheral surface 41 Opening part (tip opening)
42 outer peripheral surface 51 tip opening 52 inner peripheral surface Ax central axis

Claims (4)

A light source, a disc-shaped light emitting display unit whose display surface emits light by light emitted from the light source, a cylindrical rotating knob disposed on the outer peripheral side of the light emitting display unit and having a decorative portion at a front end portion; The light emitting display unit is disposed between the rotating knob and the light emitting display unit, and covers the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display unit, and shields the light from the light source emitted from the outer peripheral surface. A cylindrical base portion to be held; and a cylindrical housing portion that is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the rotating knob and is long in the front-rear direction on the central axis of the rotating knob, and the base portion in the light-emitting display unit is interposed, dial type switch for a predetermined switch operation by the central axis of the rotating operation of the rotating knob between said housing unit,
The outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion is provided with a first convex portion projecting outward,
On the outer peripheral surface of the front end portion of the housing portion, a second convex portion projecting outward is projected,
On the inner circumference of the base portion, a cutout portion corresponding to the first convex portion of the light emitting display portion and the second convex portion of the housing portion is provided on the same line in the front-rear direction of the central axis. A dial-type switch characterized by The housing portion has a front end abutted against a back surface side opposite to the display surface of the light emitting display portion located on an inner peripheral side of the rotation knob,
The base portion is formed such that at least the inner peripheral surface facing the light emitting display portion on the front end side is in a shape along the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion,
The dial switch according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting display portion is interposed between a front end portion of the housing portion and an inner peripheral surface of the base portion.   The dial switch according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least an inner peripheral surface of the base portion facing the light emitting display portion is subjected to a light shielding process with a material that does not transmit light.   The dial switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the dial switch is mounted on a vehicle.

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